#creative: oscar bazaldua

[shockyeahmiguelohara]

Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 5, 2019) #036 - “Time After Time”

TEMPEST: Miguel? [Yeah, hard to tell these days what's an end, anyway. A lot of the time...]

[x]

[eddycurrents]

When Jonathan Hickman was guiding the Avengers franchise, he was writing two titles that roughly played off of one another in Avengers and New Avengers, focusing on the main Avengers team and then the Illuminati offshoot. Hickman’s previous Fantastic Four and FF runs fed into some of the ideas on the titles, as well as the relatively concurrent SHIELD series fuelling some of the broader ideas.

With his open salvo into the X-Men, Hickman is doing something similar, but different, in the interplay between House of X and Powers of X. Without spoiling anything here, I can say that it’s integral to read the two series together. Though they deal with different smaller narratives, there’s a large overlap in bigger themes, characters, and at least one shared plotline. I think it’s almost best at this point to think of the two series as alternating chapters in the same book. Whether or not they converge overall in the end remains to be seen.

Like House of X #1, Powers of X #1 deals with a number of common themes and plot elements to the X-Men franchise, but gives them a different spin. It plays with some of the core ideas that we’ve seen for decades, gives them a bit of a hard science fiction sheen, and careens off in new directions. Arguably this one is weirder, but that goes into spoiler territory that I’ll discuss below. Hickman is planting some interesting seeds here and I’m curious to see how they grow.

RB Silva, Adriano Di Benedetto, and Marte Gracia step up to the challenge laid down by Pepe Larraz in House of X to provide an engrossing, beautiful visual landscape for this new era, pulling it off in spades. It’s tied together as well through the consistency of design from Clayton Cowles lettering and the text pages designed by Hickman and Tom Muller. Interesting infographics and continued use of the Krakoan language abound.

This is an intriguing next step.

As before, there will be spoilers below this image. If you do not want to be spoiled on Powers of X #1, do not read further.

SPOILER WARNING: Below I’ll be discussing the events, themes, and possibility of what’s going on in Powers of X #1 and beyond. There are HEAVY SPOILERS beyond this point. If you haven’t read the issue yet and don’t want to be spoiled, please stop reading now. You’ve been warned.

PREAMBLE | First Impressions

I was highly impressed by House of X #1. 

It surpassed my hopes for what would come from a fresh new start for the X-Men and by far exceeded my expectations. Though it played with long established themes and ideas present throughout the franchise, it felt like something fresh and new, incorporating a science fiction approach to the story and pushing the characters into a new direction. Due to House of X easily delivering on its promise, expectations were raised for Powers of X #1.

I’m happy to say that they too were met. This isn’t an ancillary book featuring also-rans that supplement a “main” story in House of X, but an equally important facet of the broader narrative that this new initiative is trying to tell. It continues part of the story from House of X and then goes deeper on a tapestry across time of the plight of Marvel’s mighty mutants. If anything, House of X is the adjunct to Powers of X, rather than the other way around.

Where House of X feels consistent to Jonathan Hickman’s previous approaches to storytelling within the Marvel Universe, Powers of X seems more informed by the freewheeling, limitless imagination of his creator-owned work. I get a similar feel reading Powers of X #1 as I do from reading Transhuman, God is Dead, East of West, and Manhattan Projects. Though it’s still firmly grounded in the Marvel Universe and the X-Men mythos, it goes off in wild directions of eugenics and genocide.

RB Silva and Adrian Di Benedetto provide a similar aesthetic for the line art as Pepe Larraz in House of X, delivering a style that seems influenced by Stuart Immonen, and it continues to be a great look to define this era of the X-Men. The clean-lined style provides a kind of slickness to the art, making the cities of Nimrod and humanity feel cold, perfectly fitting an era seemingly run by machines. The designs for Nimrod, Rasputin, Black Tom, the Hunters, and the multi-headed Sentinel are wonderful.

One of the standout stars of the creative team shines again here with Marte Gracia’s colours. They’re rich and varied, changing primary colour schemes for each time period to keep things unique and visually interesting, and overall just stunning. The colour approach in the present to the flora of Krakoa is incredibly lush.

Bringing it all together again is the lettering and design from Clayton Cowles and Tom Muller respectively. I like the continued use of mixed case to keep it consistent with House of X, along with a nice approach to the word balloons for Nimrod. The text pieces continue to enhance and enrich the overall story and make it feel distinctly like a Hickman-penned comic.

This continues to be one of the best beginnings to a new era of the X-Men.

ONE | Time

Since the announcement of the two series, there’s been speculation about the title for this one since Powers of X is meant to be read as “Powers of Ten”. When House of X #1 was released last week, there was an idea postulated that it was in reference to exponential mutant batches birthed in the Krakoa pods or beyond. While that could still another reason, it feels like its framework is more the time periods that this book takes place in.

We’re given four primary time periods in X0, X1, X2, and X3, following the powers of ten scale of 1, 10, 100, and 1000.  X0 represents the past, a time when Xavier was just dreaming his dream of a mutant paradise. 

X1 is Year 10 and represents the present in House of X #1. It’s somewhat interesting to see the X-Men back on a ten-year scale from what appears shortly before the original five to the current time. The original five operating in the 2000s is just a weird prospect. 

X2 is 100 years from day one, with a war between the few remaining mutants and the “Man-Machine Supremacy” occurring. This appears to be one of the primary periods that we’re going to be seeing action and new characters set in the Powers of X series. It may be from here that we see the prima facie forces informing this narrative.

X3 is 1000 years since the dawning of Xavier’s dream. It’s arguably the weirdest as well, following the fall of mankind.

There’s also a hint right off the bat that there’s something wrong. Wrong with time, possibly, or maybe just wrong with Xavier. While Charles is enjoying a day at the fair, he’s approached by Moira MacTaggert. Who he doesn’t know. That’s ominous for a number of reasons, since a large part of Charles’ youth was spent with Moira at Oxford University and she was his fiancé for a time. It makes you wonder if someone’s messed with Charles’ memories, or if maybe something or someone is messing with the timeline.

For the latter, other than growing new mutants, this could also be one of the reasons why we’re seeing characters who should be dead back up and alive in House of X #1. It might also be why time overall seems to be such an important element in this story.  

The nature of the text pieces, the file names and numbers, and the importance of it in the X1 period (and what looks like possibly a similar quest in the X2 period), it kind of makes me wonder if Moira is a time traveller herself. It’s possible that X0 is before Charles met her at university and therefore doesn’t know her at this point in time, but I think that compresses the timeline of events even further than we’re already squashing the periods between X0 and X1.

In X2 there’s also a curious exchange as Xavier receives the data procured by Sabretooth, Mystique, and Toad in House of X #1. I’m not sure if the confusion was intentional as a hint that something else was going on, or if we were meant to infer that Magneto was manipulating the drive to get it to Xavier, but it at least appears that Xavier is using telekinesis. Xavier doesn’t have telekinesis as a power.

It makes you wonder if something has changed with Charles, giving him new expanded powers, or reinforcing that maybe this isn’t even Charles. With the people being grown in pods and the rise of composite mutants in the future, it makes me wonder if the eugenics tests started even soon. Not to mention that we still haven’t seen Xavier’s face in the present.

TWO | Space?

In X2, we’re given kind of a bleak outlook for how many mutants are left remaining in the 22nd century. Roughly 10,000 mutants living in the Shi’ar Empire and 8 mutants living on Earth. Yeah, that’s a small population. It kind of boggles the mind as to what’s going on between the mutants and machines on Earth since that’s barely a resistance.

There are some interesting questions raised here about the first wave of “Dawn of X” once House of X and Powers of X are over. This seems to be more of an idea seed for what’s coming next, especially with the previews for New Mutants and Excalibur that seem to be sending various X-teams into space again. Even the forthcoming X-Men series looks like it might have ties to intergalactic derring-do.

There’s also a mention of Empress Xandra that’s sure to perk up some ears. Xandra was introduced by Kelly Thompson and Oscar Bazaldua in Mr. & Mrs. X and is supposedly the daughter of Charles Xavier and Lilandra Neramani.

THREE | Days of Future Tenses Yet to Come

What’s a horrible mutant future without a Days of Future Past framework? The  X2 period uses familiar elements from many of the dystopian futures that we’ve seen over the years in X-Men comics.

There are elements here from many alternate futures including traditional Sentinels, Nimrod, hounds, and such, but it somehow feels fresh. Although it’s a bleak, dystopian world where practically every mutant is dead, there’s still a small thread of hope. Given what we see later that hope is probably futile, but you wonder where this is heading.

There is so much world and character-building that feeds into the construction of the X2 period, including the new elements of Krakoa that were introduced in House of X #1, that it feels like framing this simply as another alternate future that’s going to be worked out and fixed by the end of the series is a little naïve.

It could be a vehicle for introducing Rasputin into the world, a Chimera mutant based on the DNA of Kitty Pryde, Piotr Rasputin (with the possibility of some Illyana in there too, since she’s got a soulsword, but it may be that just one of their genetic stock can yield both mutant powers. Though the soulsword is magic not mutant), Gunther Bain, Laura Kinney, and Quentin Quire. And we could well see her transplanted elsewhere when “Dawn of X” begins.   

The hunters are kind of neat. We see a couple of them with their masks off and they seem normal, but who’s to tell. They might be human, they might be machine, they might be both, we’re still unsure as to what the deeper state of humanity happens to be in this time period. Much of the early landscape we see in the Nexus is battleground, full of destruction and debris, but the area around Nimrod’s tower looks to be a built up futuristic city. Who lives there? Or maybe what lives there?

I also quite like the design of the hunters. They remind me of the Hellfire Club soldiers’ design (and by extension some of the Reavers) with a few tweaks to make them more fit Nimrod’s design and the singular lens to make their asymmetry feel a little creepy. I’m curious if we’re supposed to think that these hunters are the new Reavers, or if maybe there’s some connection to some form of the Hellfire Club.

Now, Omega seems to be Nimrod’s superior. He defers to her and seems to get her blessing in order to enact his archival experiment from her. We don’t know if she’s still Karima Shapandar, but it seems like she might be, the only difference is that she’s now red. Bigotry also appears to have become a more apparent part of her personality, using one of the common dismissive phrases of “you people” when dealing with Clyobel.

You have to wonder what happened to her prior to her reactivation in House of X #1 that has changed her so dramatically from her time with the X-Men. And what shaped and honed that hatred even further into the future.

FOUR | Flawed Design

There’s a kind of nihilism that’s baked into the story. It comes with the territory of a horrible future for Marvel’s mighty mutants, but it extends to some of the characters and situations throughout this issue as the world-building informs us of what’s going on in the X2 period and of what led to parts of the current situation. It seems like failure is going to be a theme for Powers of X, failure of the dream, failure of systems, failure of communication and trust, failure of legacy. It would seem depressing, but it’s endlessly fascinating the way that it’s presented.

For starters, handing over any kind of breeding programme for the continued survival of mutants over to Sinister is insane. Even with mutant leadership apparently missing when it happened, it’s still insane. Sinister is a self-serving mad scientist, so it’s no wonder that it blew up in everyone’s faces. It also makes you wonder what other schemes he had in mind, and whether or not his “execution” actually took. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him, and another generation of his own personal mutants, before the story runs its course. He always seems to have a back-up plan, not to mention another cloned body just ready to be activated.

Giving up and defecting to the Man-Machine Supremacy after deliberately sabotaging the fourth generation of his breeding pits to destroy Mars feels a little too simple for Sinister.

But that flaw isn’t limited to Sinister. We see it in the Man-Machine Supremacy’s breeding programme too at the Khennil (referred to in the text piece as the Man-Machine Ascendancy). Obsolete and ill-considered eugenics seems to be part of man’s purview as well in how it created the original hounds (presumably the ones we know and love like Rachel Summers) and then the subsequent “black brains”.

There’s also a theme of betrayal throughout. In that it’s part of the genetic make-up of the Khennil hounds, that it was part of Sinister’s plan with his fourth generation brood, and there’s the suggestion that mutant leaders were “disappeared” through betrayal.

The final, and ultimately fatal, flaw comes in the future with the failure of Nimrod’s experiment started in the X2 period brought forward to the end in X3’s Mutant Library. This one’s likely not purposeful, rather degradation of systems through age, but it’s the one that leads to the end of mankind and the mutant race with the idea that it’s not possible to bring them back.

Though, I wouldn’t be surprised that this is the problem that this series is trying to fix.

FIVE | The Four Horsemen

One of the interesting things I found among the X2 time period was who survives. Among the 8 who are still living, you’ve got representatives of Sinister’s breeding programme, from a standard composite in Rasputin to an outlier priest class in Cardinal, but then you’ve got a group of four. I find it particularly interesting that they’re introduced in the form of a group of four because it gives certain connotations.

The four aren’t named in the story, but they look like Magneto, Wolverine, Black Tom, and Zorn (the Ultimate Universe brother to Xorn that Hickman and Rafa Sandoval created in Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye). I mean, it’s entirely possible that these four are more composites or clones grown by Sinister or someone else, especially since it’s 90 years from “now” and they all seem relatively well put together, but these are four characters that arguably have a tenacity for longevity. Hell, Black Tom can pretty much regrow himself like Swamp Thing.

But back to the four. It gives another possible reason as to why these existing characters are still alive in the future. They could be new representatives of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse.

I mean, there’s a number of people that Wolverine could be mentioning as the “Old Man”. It could be Xavier. Could be someone else. But like Black Tom, we’ve been seeing Apocalypse popping up again in numerous covers and solicitations (after all he’s on the cover for House of X #2 at that).

It also potentially ties into all of the religious symbolism and meta-narrative that Hickman has been seeding throughout House of X and Powers of X so far. From Xavier creating a new Adam and Eve beneath a Tree of Life, Magneto emphasizing the coming of new gods in Jerusalem, the possibility of Krakoa creating all sorts of plant golems, Nimrod’s tower, and now the end times as portrayed in the book of Revelation.

Also, one of the file names for the text pieces includes “(APOC_build)”.

SIX | The Garden

The end to Powers of X #1 has an interesting parallel to the beginning of House of X #1. Where the latter had Xavier seemingly hatching his Adam & Eve out of the Krakoa pods, in X3, following the seeming collapse of mankind, there’s a place called “The Preserve” where the Librarian references some kept around similar to dinosaur bones in a museum.

There are some oddities, though, as when mining Nimrod’s database, the Librarian seems to be searching for personalities, sad to find that they’ve degraded. It makes you wonder if the Preserve is a place to house relics, or if maybe they’re trying to breed a new race of mutants. Also, who or what the Librarian represents at this point is anyone’s guess.

SEVEN | A Drawing of Three

In the opening sequence between Moira and Charles, there’s another interesting thing as Moira recounts briefly that she had a fortune-telling. From that we draw a traditional three card spread. There’s a number of ways that you can read them, but two are most prevalent. In the first reading, card 1 is the past, 2 is the present, and 3 is the future. In the other, card 1 represents the context of the question being asked, card 2 represents what the person asking should focus on to affect or change the situation, and card 3 represents the potential outcome. (Now, I know there are countless other ways to read the cards, including card 2 representing the querent and the other two influencing it, but we’d be here all day if I broke down all possible interpretations to just read the spread.)

Given that it is a timeline question, though, in a story about time, I think it’s interesting that all three cards pulled are interpreted through the future of the  X2 time period and the characters there. (Also somewhat odd in that all three are Major Arcana.) And it that, it makes it even stranger as a timeline question that would normally take a past, present, future reading.

I personally tend to use Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris’ Thoth Tarot when I do personal readings, including Crowley’s book on further meanings and connections, as well as Lon Milo DuQuette’s commentary and analysis in the beautiful Understanding the Thoth Tarot, so my frame of reference is probably different given the celestial twist and changes made (along with tons of attributions and connections according to Hermetic Kabbalah). I’m also a large proponent of people only doing readings for themselves, bringing their own interpretations and influences to the reading and their understanding of the symbolism, connections, and such. So, if you disagree with anything I write here, feel free to throw it out and do your own work.

Anyway, the drawing of The Magician as the past, as represented by Rasputin is interesting. Especially in Hickman’s statement of “one foot in two worlds”. This could be representative of two things, the past (as in she’s a composite of different mutants from the past) and the future, or it could be referring to her soulsword and the fact that she represents a magical world and a mundane world. It could be reading Rasputin as simple as a literal magician. The Magician card itself typically represents communication, wisdom, craft, and skill. As representing the past, it could be interpreted as that the previous timeframes were where all of the skill, determination, and communication came from. That all of that X-magic is behind them.

The card for the present is The Tower, as represented by Nimrod’s tower. Hickman incorporates some of the symbolism of the biblical tower of Nimrod, the Tower of Babel, here in a symbol of “collapse and rebirth”. The Tower card, often also referred to as the Blasted Tower (depending on your perspective on the Tree), often represents combat, strife, ruin, and a destruction of plans. It certainly makes sense for the present of the  X2 time period as it’s rife with conflict caused by the war between the few remaining mutants and the Man-Machine Supremacy. 

The final drawing for the future is The Devil, as represented by Cardinal (I still want to call him Redcrawler). Like Rasputin, this could simply be down to the character correlations (in that the Nightcrawler genetic stock that Cardinal draws upon is descended from that “demon” mutant offshoot). The card itself is often read to represent blind impulse, unscrupulousness, temptation, and obsession. All of that seems at odds with the Cardinal character that we see in Powers of X #1, so it’s kind of hard to gauge. If it represents the future, it could be that some sort of recklessness on the part of the few remaining mutants leads to a complete collapse (as we seem to see in the X3 period). Or maybe our priest isn’t necessarily what he seems.

At its most basic, the spread seems to be telling us what we can discern from the comic itself, of a period of a kind of golden age, followed by a collapse and a period of strife, before temptation possibly leading everything astray, but part of me thinks that’s too simple. I haven’t gone into attributions, and whether or not the presence of the cards together are well or ill aspected, so there might be something there that sheds a different light.

Or Hickman could have an entirely different meaning behind any of this.

CONCLUSION | All the Small Things

Between the first issues of House of X and Powers of X, I’m impressed by their depth. It could well be a case of overthinking and over-analyzing the story, the text, and the imagery, of reading too much into the ideas, but this work from Hickman, Silva, Di Benedetto, Gracia, Cowles, and Muller lends itself to be scrutinized. 

It can be enjoyed, very much so, on a surface level as a great science fiction adventure story, and absolutely should be. It’s entertaining fiction as a groundwork, but that it can be studied for clues and other meanings can be a large part of the fun of a work like this. It gets imaginations running wild trying to see how or if the pieces fit, almost like a puzzle or a treasure hunt.

Powers of X #1 leads us further down a rabbit hole that this new era of the X-Men is taking us down and it’s an exciting ride so far.

d. emerson eddy thinks he thinks too much some times.

[comicsnoble]

Pull List - February 13, 2019

Finally back to posting my Wednesday pull lists. No indie books this week, to my own chagrin, but some quality Big Two titles. What’s everyone else picking up this week?

Captain Marvel #2

Writer: Kelly Thompson

Artist: Carmen Carnero

Cover Artists: Amanda Conner, Paul Mounts

I’m on record as a pretty big fan of Kelly Thompson in general, so I was excited to hear she was on the creative team for this new run of Captain Marvel. The first issue was pretty good, though it was almost excessively chatty and there was also A LOT going on. The art was pretty gorgeous so far, and I think I like her take on Carol’s personality, so I’m excited to see where this goes.

Detective Comics #998

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi

Artist: Jaime Mendoza, Doug Mahnke

Cover Artist: Jaime Mendoza, Doug Mahnke

Another “I jumped on because I really like the writer.” I had been playing catchup with Detective Comics, but when Tomasi took over, I decided now would be a good time to start picking up the monthlies even though I wasn’t fully caught up. The last issue was fun, if a little thin on actual story. I’m excited to see where we go with #1000 and onward.

The Flash #64

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona

Cover: Chris Burnham

Batman/Heroes in Crisis crossover. Oof, this is hitting me right in the feels. Last issue there was this flashback of Dick and Wally hanging out during their early sidekick days and that just about killed me. I think everyone who doesn’t like the Heroes in Crisis series/event is totally valid and they have great reasons for being upset. However, I am a sucker and I am eating up all this drama and grief with a spoon.

Mr. & Mrs. X #8

Writer: Kelly Thompson

Artist: Oscar Bazaldua

Cover Artist: Terry & Rachel Dodson

Look, they’re hot. Kelly Thompson is funny. Rogue has bee my favorite X-Man since I was like 10. Of course I’m still reading this.

Runaways #18

Writer: Rainbow Rowell

Artist/Cover Artist: Kris Anka

THE LAST KRIS ANKA ISSUE! *crying face* I am sad to see him leave, but I am excited to see what he does next. In the meantime, Rainbow Rowell’s writing is still terrific and I intend to keep reading indefinitely.

Shatterstar #5

Writer: Tim Seeley

Artist: Gerardo Sandoval, Carlos Villa

Cover Artist: Yasmine Putri

Look, all I want is a Shatterstar and Rictor reunion. That is all I am here for. Please and thank you.

Superman #8

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Brandon Peterson, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado

Cover artist: Ivan Reis, Joe Prado

I am still VERY WORRIED about Jonathan. However, I am liking how Bendis is handling the sudden age up. Lois and Clark are both responding how I think real parents would to hearing that they accidentally missed out on LITERALLY ALL OF JON’S ADOLESCENCE. They’re understandably distraught but also just so happy to have him back. That potent parental mix of anxiety, adoration, pride and grief reminds me of my own family… in a mostly good way.

Wonder Woman #64

Writer: G. Willow Wilson

Artist: Jesus Merino

Cover Artist: Terry & Rachel Dodson

The last issue was a blast. I love the new mythical creatures trying to live in modern America. Wilson’s Diana is expressive and relatable but still appropriately awe inspiring. After the first intro arch, we’re starting to get into a larger story with some grand, political and ethical themes. I’m excited to see where Wilson takes it from here.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1208

Monday, April 16, 2018

 Today is going to be challenging here in Ottawa. Freezing rain overnight has left thick ice on everything. It's going to take a lot of muscle and time to scrape off any cars parked outside overnight. Penny has been going at hers for half and hour and she still hasn't left for work. I would normally go out and help her but I caught a bad cold and I feel like poop. I probably got the bug on the flight home from Cuba last Tuesday. My immune system let me down this trip.

 Our week at the Brisas Guardalavaca resort in Cuba was near perfect. Beautiful sun every day. I took one of the resort bikes out for a ride on one of the only cloudy mornings, got rained on a little but made it back to the resort unscathed. I donned mask, snorkel and fins every afternoon but one to swim out to look for tropical fish on what remained of the reefs after last year's hurricanes. I'm happy to be home but I wish winter would finally leave the area. Just going to stay in today and try to get better.

 Domino #1 - Gail Simone (writer) David Baldeon (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Killer Instinct part 1. It's my lucky day. The merc with the facial tattoo is back on the racks and she's being take care of by a writer and artist team that I like a lot. This story starts off with Neena Thurman's birthday but may end in her death day. If I didn't like this whole issue and the many guest stars so much, that last page guarantees that I will be reading the next issue.

 Immortal Men #1 - Jim Lee, Ryan Benjamin & James Tynion IV (storytellers) Jim Lee & Ryan Benjamin (pencils) Scott Williams & Richard Friend (inks) Jeremiah Skipper & Alex Sinclair (colours) Carlos M. Mangual (letters). The End of Forever part 1. I used to get excited when I saw Jim Lee's name attached to a new project because his art was so fantastic. At least to me it was. His X-Men and Batman stuff made me go "wow". Now I look at his art and feel meh about it. This latest New Age of Heroes book introduces a team of immortals that are brand new to me. None of them made a positive impression. I didn't finish reading the Dark Nights Metal stories and this team ties in to that series so that's probably why I couldn't get into this debut. These Immortal Men will be short-lived.

 Xerxes #1 - Frank Miller (story & art) Alex Sinclair (colours). I really liked 300 when it hit the racks 20 years ago. This new 5-issue mini promises to be just as good. This time the Greeks and the Persians go at each others' throats in 490 BC. I have an interest in ancient history so I'm going to follow this story to see what happens.

 Exiles #1 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Javier Rodriguez (pencils & colours page 4) Javier Rodriguez (pencils) Jordie Bellaire (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Here we go again with Blink leading a team of heroes to save the multiverse. This first issue introduces two team members and the big bad guy that they'll be facing. I liked this debut. It reminded me of the Unstoppable Wasp book with young Nadia. I really enjoyed Javier's art in Spider-Woman so I'm giving this new book a chance.

 Batman #44 - Tom King (writer) Mikel Janin & Joelle Jones (art) June Chung & Jordie Bellaire (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). I loved the silent scenes where Selina picks out her wedding dress. Those pages are interspersed with flashbacks showing different times in Batman and Catwoman's tumultuous relationship. The lead up to the wedding has been amazing. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about the blessed event however. The "'til death do us part" part may be a nasty surprise that the creative team are going to spring on us. I really hope not.

 Oblivion Song #2 - Robert Kirkman (writer) Lorenzo De Felici (art) Annalisa Leoni (colours) Russ Wooton (letters). Still liking this adventures in monster land series.

 Runaways #8 - Rainbow Rowell (writer) Kris Anka (art) Triona Tree Farrell (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Julie Power/Lightspeed is all grown up. I remember reading Louise Simonson and June Brigman's book when it first hit the racks in 1984 and loving the Power Pack kids. I never would have thought that Julie would mature into the woman she is now and would be dating Karolina. Julie's visit to her girlfriend's is interrupted by a surprise villain who wants Victor's head. I was surprised because I thought he was a good guy now.

 Superman #44 - Patrick Gleason & Peter J. Tomasi (writers) Doug Mahnke (pencils) Jaime Mendoza & Doug Mahnke (inks) Wil Quintana (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Bizarroverse part 3. Thank Darkseid this story is over. This climax had more Bizarro characters so the confusion I felt while reading this issue was increased exponentially. Even the sound effects were Bizarro. I hope we get back to normal next issue.

 American Gods: My Ainsel #2 - Neil Gaiman (writer) P. Craig Russell (script & layouts) Scott Hampton (art) Rick Parker (letters). Find out why this arc is called My Ainsel.

 Spider-Man #239 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) Brian Reber (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The Sinister Six deliver their stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier to the buyer. A special guest star team helps Miles to stop the handover. Somebody is going to die I bet.

 Detective Comics #978 - James Tynion IV (writer) Javier Fernandez (art) John Kalisz (colours) Sal Cipriano (letters). The villain tips his hand this issue. I just noticed that all the ad pages were in the back of this book so that reading the story was a lot smoother. I wish every comic book was printed that way.

 Avengers #687 - Mark Waid, Al Ewing & Jim Zub (writers) Paco Medina (pencils) Juan Vlasco (inks) Jesus Aburtov & Frederico Blee (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). No Surrender part 13. The Avengers find out what they're involved in as Voyager confesses to her duplicitousness just in time for the bad guy to ratchet up his threat to destroy the planet. The scene between Jarvis and Bruce Banner bodes well for the return of the Hulk.

 Avengers #688 - Mark Waid, Al Ewing & Jim Zub (writers) Kim Jacinto  & Stefano Caselli (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). No Surrender part 14. The Avengers need every hero they can assemble to defeat the Challenger after he crowns himself the Grandmaster Prime. It's going to take a lot of sacrifice to save the doomed planet. Who will not survive is the question.

 Old Man Hawkeye #3 - Ethan Sacks (writer) Marco Checchetto (art) Andres Mossa (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Clint is hunting Thunderbolts and Bullseye is hunting Clint. We all know that Clint doesn't die in this story because he still has to go on a road trip with Old Man Logan. I'm curious to see how he survives Bullseye.

 New Mutants #2 - Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Adam Gorham (art) Michael Garland (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). The team gets sent to the Arctic to deal with a giant problem. Meanwhile a new New Mutant makes a surprise appearance on the last page. Maybe Doug Ramsey will show up too.

 Amazing Spider-Man #798 - Dan Slott (writer) Stuart Immonen (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Go Down Swinging part 2. I love the design of the new Red Goblin. The sacrifice that Peter has to make to keep himself and everyone he loves safe is huge. Now we'll see if he can come up with a way to beat the Red Goblin without his web shooters.

 Marvel 2 in One #5 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Valerio Schiti (art) Frank Martin (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Ben and Johnny find themselves in a universe where GalacDoom has eaten everything except Earth. Now he's going to eat it too. Then what? There's nothing left to eat. Not very bright, GalacDoom. Seeing the Silver Surfer and Emma Frost doing the Smallville thing was cool though.

 All-New Wolverine #33 - Tom Taylor (writer) Ramon Rosanas (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Old Woman Laura part 1. We jump into the future where Laura is queen of Madripoor after the good guys win Doom World War. Wait until you see who the POTUS is. Laura has only months to live due to a genetic glitch and one of the items on her bucket list is to kill Victor Von Doom. Someone shows up in the last panel and April 25, when the next issue hits the racks, can't come soon enough for me.

 Astonishing X-Men #10 - Charles Soule (writer) Aco (pencils) David Lorenzo (inks) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). A Man Called X part 4. As much as I liked Aco's art in the Nick Fury mini, I didn't think it suited that spy versus spy story. It's perfect for this reality warping story though. The team tries to save the villagers of Fetters Hill in the Scottish Highlands from the villain Proteus before he can spread his madness even further. I'm interested to see how they do that.

 X-Men Red #3 - Tom Taylor (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Ive Svorcina (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The Hate Machine part 3. I don't remember much about the villain Cassandra Nova but it's clear she's one very nasty person in the first three pages. I'm not usually a fan of super hero teams but Tom Taylor writes the All-New Wolverine and Gabby and Laura are on this team so this book stays on my "must read" list.

 Star Wars: Darth Vader #14 - Charles Soule (writer) Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils) Daniele Orlandini (inks) David Curiel (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Burning Seas part 3. Vader is sent to the oceanic planet of Mon Cala to hunt down some surviving Jedi that slipped through the Empire's clutches when Order 66 was executed. The defiant Mon Calamari are thwarting his efforts. Mmm…calamari is yummy.

 Captain America #700 - Mark Waid (writer) Chris Samnee (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). So disappointed that a time paradox was used to beat the bad guy. All that matters to Cap fans is that Steve is back in the "present" and the series continues.

[graphicpolicy]

For months, Marvel has been teasing a project known only as “X-Classified.” The cover has been blacked out and creative team involved not listed. While there’s been some speculation that the series revolved around the upcoming Extermination storyline/event, we now know it’s something different.

WARNING SPOILERS BELOW

Today’s X-Men: Gold #30 features the wedding of Colossus and Kitty Pryde but, as spoiled by Marvel itself, we know that wedding doesn’t happen. Instead, Rogue and Gambit tie the knot and get married. This is what this ongoing series is about.

Mr. & Mrs. X is written by Kelly Thompson with pencils by Oscar Bazaldua. The main cover is by Terry Dodson with variants for the first three issues by J. Scott Campbell, Humberto Ramos, Skottie Young, Jen Bartel, and Phil Noto.

In January, Rogue and Gambit starred in a mini-series also written by Thompson.

To the surprise of everyone, the Marvel Universe’s hottest couple has tied the knot!

But there’s no time to enjoy wedded bliss when Rogue and Gambit find themselves tasked with protecting a mysterious package that just about everyone in the galaxy is trying to steal. What secrets does this package hold that everyone from the Imperial Guard and the Starjammers to Technet and Deathbirth (with an entire Shi’ar rebellion in tow!) will risk everything for?! Perhaps more importantly, is there anything worse than Deadpool crashing your honeymoon?

X-Classified Revealed As.... #comics #marvel #xmen For months, Marvel has been teasing a project known only as "X-Classified." The cover has been blacked out and creative team involved not listed.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1270

Monday, July 15, 2019

 I'm not much of a gardener even though I worked for two years at a garden centre. Penny does most of the work and I am around for the heavy lifting. I try to be a supportive spouse and I assisted with some of the weeding yesterday. I get the same feeling of satisfaction after cleaning up a flower bed as I do after reading a pile of comic books. The added hubby points are a bonus.

 Detective Comics #1007 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Kyle Hotz (art) David Baron (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). The team-up with the Spectre concludes with the rescue of Jim Corrigan. This was a nice 2-issue story and now the Spectre leaves Gotham City. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

 Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice #1 - Jeff Lemire (writer) Michael Walsh (art) Nate Piekos (letters). I thought this was going to be a tam-up story but it's the old switcheroo where the two super hero teams wind up in each others' universes. I'm guessing the rest of this 5-issue mini will be each team trying to return home. This is good exposure for Jeff Lemire's Black Hammer characters which I liked, so you should check it out.

 Catwoman #13 - Joelle Jones (writer) Fernando Blanco (art pages 1-14, 19) Hugo Petrus (art pages 15-18) Joelle Jones (art pages 20-22) John Kalisz (colours pages 1-19) Laura Allred (colours pages 20-22) Saida Temofonte (letters). That crazy Creel woman finally gets her hands on the artefact but the rest of the story will have to wait until Selina gets through the "Year of the Villain" (YOTV) tie-in. Catwoman is made an offer that she can refuse, or not.

 Thor #15 - Jason Aaron (writer) Mike del Mundo (art) Mike del Mundo & Marco D'Alfonso (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Four Thors and seven realms ago this whole thing started. Now that it's over find out what happens to everybody in this epilogue to War of the Realms. I particularly liked the fate of Malekith. I am so looking forward to the next story arc with art  by Esad Ribic.

 Naomi #6 - Brian Michael Bendis & David F. Walker (writers) Jamal Campbell (art) Wes Abbott (letters). Origin story complete. From the looks of things on the cover, Naomi is going to meet up with Young Justice and that's okay with me. This book is every bit as good as Ironheart used to be.

 Ironheart #8 - Eve L. Ewing (writer) Luciano Vecchio (art) Geoffo (layouts) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Riri goes to Doctor Strange for help in finding out what's been happening in her life for the last few issues. There's s portal of power that she needs to track down so she goes from Chicago to New York City to who knows where else. This is so exciting and I've got to say I like the slightly more mature Riri that Eve is presenting.

 Symbiote Spider-Man #4 - Peter David (writer) Greg Land (pencils) Jay Leisten (inks) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). A new and different element is added to make things fun and exciting in this Spider-Man versus Mysterio story. This reminds me a lot of the old Amazing Spider-Man plots where Peter gets ambushed by some super villain while on his way to see Aunt May. Will our boy make it to breakfast? Find out in next issue's thrilling conclusion.

 Young Justice #7 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) John Timms & Dan Hipp (art pages 2-3) David Lafuente (art the other pages)  Dan Hipp (colours pages 2-3) Gabriel Eltaeb (colours the other pages) Wes Abbott (letters). Lost in the Multiverse part 1. This was a lot of fun. I really liked Doctor Fate.

 Second Coming #1 - Mark Russell (writer) Richard Pace (art) Leonard Kirk (finisher earth pages) Andy Troy (colours earth pages) Rob Steen (letters). Holy bible Batman, this is some weird super hero comic book. Here we have a wisecracking God and his hapless son Jesus trying to make sense of humanity. God sends Jesus back to earth to learn from a Superman-like super hero. I like this parody. It reminds me of Herbie and the Inferior Five. I will be getting s second helping of this book when #2 hits the racks.

 Invisible Woman #1 - Mark Waid (writer) Mattia De Iulis (art) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Did you know that Sue Storm was a part time spy for S.H.I.E.L.D.? Me neither. That fact sets up her mission to find her former partner, fellow spy Aiden Tintreach. Y'know, I was thinking that this story would have been better suited to the Black Widow and I was right on when I got to the last page. Mattia De Iulis's art was the main reason I read the latest Jessica Jones graphic novel and he's why I will add the rest of this 5-issue mini to my "must read" list.

 Batman Universe #1 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Nick Derington (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Josh Reed (letters). There's another Batbook on the racks and this one's a 6-issue mini. I think Bendis is going to throw as many DC heroes and villains into this story as he can with the Riddler starting things off, leading to Jinny Hex. If you don't know who she is you should go read the most excellent Young Justice. The story goes international and this issue ends in Amsterdam with the appearance of Deathstroke and Green Arrow. I want to know why Oliver Queen is way over in Europe. Going to read the rest of this one too.

 War of the Realms Omega #1- If you're wondering about the spin-offs and changes wrought by the War of the Realms then this $4.99 US epilogue is the comic book for you.

 Daredevil played a significant role while wielding Heimdall's sword and his story continues in "God and the Devil Walk Into a Church" by Jason Aaron (writer), Ron Garney (art), Matt Milla (colours) and VC's Joe Sabino (letters).

 The double-page ads for "Jane Foster: Valkyrie" has me looking forward to the first issue hitting the racks so reading "The Job I Have to Do" by Al Ewing & Jason Aaron (writers), Cafu (art), Jesus Aburtov (colours) and VC's Joe Sabino (letters) was a nice prelude.

 The God of Mischief and now King of the Frost Giants has been a favourite character of mine for decades so I am also anticipating the release of Loki #1. Daniel Kibblesmith (writer), Oscar Bazaldua (art) David Curiel (colours) and VC's Clayton Cowles (letters) gives us a hint as to how Loki will rule in "Born Small".

 Finally, we can't forget Frank Castle the Punisher. His never ending war will continue in "Punisher Kill Krew" and the calm before the firestorm is chronicled in "War Orphans" by Gerry Duggan (writer), Juan Ferreyra (art) and VC's Cory Petit (letters).

 Marvel's mega crossover events may be predictable now but I like that this one makes some interesting changes to characters that I have followed for a long time. I loved when (spoiler alert) Jane Foster was Thor. Ditto when Loki was a good guy with the Young Avengers. I'm hoping that their new books are worthy of my time. I doubt that Daredevil having magic Asgardian billy clubs will change much in his book but it would be cool to see what they can do and how he uses them. And as always, the Punisher will continue to kill bad guys.

 Miles Morales: Spider-Man #8 - Saladin Ahmed (writer) Javier Garron (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). When last we left Miles he had been captured by some unknown super villain. This issue details the extremely dangerous predicament that he's in. I know Miles will survive these tests and experiments but boy, they sure put him through the wringer this issue. The creative team did an excellent job of making me feel immersed in the story.

 Avengers #21 - Jason Aaron (writer) Jason Masters (art) Jason Keith (colours) VC's Joe "Jason" Caramagna (letters). It's practically an all Jason issue. The team relaxes in the aftermath of the War of the Realms. I don't like She-Hulk speaking monosyllabically but she thinks in proper sentences in her thought balloons so that assuages my annoyance. Black Panther didn't get the memo and confronts Phil Coulson and his Squadron Supreme of America. I think this is Jason Aaron's dig at the current administration in the White House. I'm waiting to see where the next global threat will come from. Will it be domestic or alien?

 Batman #74 - Tom King (writer) Mikel Janin (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). "The Fall and the Fallen" concludes. I'm not a fan of Thomas Wayne being in this reality so I hope it's the last we see of him for a while. Comparing what Bruce and "his father" are doing with the story of the animals in the pit was very clever and the inconclusive ending heightens the suspense for the next issue.

 Black Cat #2 - Jed MacKay (writer) Travel Foreman (art) Brian Reber (colours) Ferran Delgado (letters). The Cat will burgle while the Sorcerer Supreme is away. Felicia and her crew break into 177A Bleecker Street in this weird heist. Getting in was easy. Getting out will be a problem. There was a double-page spread featuring an M.C. Escher staircase that could have had the word balloons and captions arranged better. I had to read the things a couple of times to get the flow right. Other than that minor annoyance this is another fine issue. The last page by Clay McLeod Chapman (writer), Alberto Alburquerque (art), Brian Reber (colours) and Ferran Delgado (letters) was a bit of a puzzler. Is it a teaser for the next story, or what?

 The Amazing Spider-Man #25 - Don't judge a comic book by it's cover. Case in point, this issue looked good so I saved it for last. We've got Spider-Man front and center with Mary Jane, Mysterio, Electro and Kindred in the background. This issue sets up a lot of stuff so let's have a look see.

 The main story is called "Opening Night" by Nick Spencer (writer), Ryan Ottley, Humberto Ramos, Patrick Gleason & Kev Walker (pencils), Cliff Rathburn, Victor Olazaba, Dexter Vines, Patrick Gleason & Kev Walker (inks) Nathan Fairbairn, Edgar Delgado, Dave Stewart & Laura Martin (colours) and VC's Joe Caramagna (letters) has a brief appearance by Kindred and Mysterio but it's mostly about Electro (the new female one) holding an actress for ransom at a theatre. Mary Jane is the one who comes to the rescue. The Spider-Man subplot has Peter rescuing Doctor Curt Connors from depression. A set up for future stories happens on the last page where a new team of super villains is introduced called the Syndicate. They want Electro to join. Then we have 5 pages that ends with the appearance of Spider-Man 2099. I wonder where Miguel has been? Then there's a 10 page story leading towards a team up with Doctor Strange. The issue wraps up with a 5-page cartoon for the kiddies by Keaton Patti (writer), Dan Hipp (art) and VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Yes, it's 60 pages of Spider-Mania but even a Spider-Maniac like myself cringed after reading this.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1223

Monday, July 30, 2018

 Many comings and goings here recently. I had a visit with a friend from Victoria, BC over the weekend. Treated him to a fishing trip and he had a blast. My niece is moving to Bahrain tomorrow after being home from Japan for 8 months. I will miss her but we will keep in touch via social media. Penny is off on a road trip today to visit family up north and friends in Huntsville and Barrie, Ontario. She'll be back in time to welcome dear friends from Calgary, Alberta arriving next weekend while they are here visiting family. I'm not going anywhere soon but that's the way this homebody likes it.

 Detective Comics #985 - Bryan Hill (writer) Philippe Briones (art) Adriano Lucas (colours) Sal Cipriano (letters). I like the short and sweet origin story for this new super villain Karma. We find out why he's terrorizing Gotham City and what his demands are. This is a really good challenge for Batman and his allies.

 Moon Knight #197 - Max Bemis (writer) Jacen Burrows (pencils) Guillermo Ortego (inks) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). It's a sit down dinner with a select group of extreme sadists. I question the "Teen+" rating for this issue. It definitely should have been rated "Parental Advisory". I mean, even I got a little queasy reading each guest's story. I kept waiting for the host to announce that they were going to kill someone for the main course. Yuck.

 Infinity Wars Prime - Gerry Duggan (writer) Mike Deodato Jr. (art) Frank Martin (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This story starts off promising enough with Loki in a library reading old stories about himself. This leads to Loki going to the Quarry of Creation to find some missing parts to one of his stories. I felt like I was missing a lot as I continued to read since I did not follow the Infinity Countdown and related tie-in books. I was left wondering what the fork was going on when Adam Warlock pays a visit to Doctor Strange. By the time the inevitable super villain was introduced I was feeling so lost that I decided to skip this war altogether. Other readers may be intrigued enough with the mysterious character with the infinity goggles to want to see what happens to the stones. I was completely shocked by the one death in this issue though.

 Justice League Dark #1 - James Tynion IV (writer) Alvaro Martinez Bueno (pencils) Raul Fernandez (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). When Peter Milligan (writer) first introduced this team to the racks in 2011 I did read some of their adventures but I stopped before that run came to an end in 2015. I guess the team was disbanded but now there's a threat to magic in the DCU and all the mystical members have to join together to survive. This time they will be lead by Wonder Woman. Zatanna and Swampthing are front and center in this issue but there are plenty of other magic users waiting in the wings. I like the new Man-Bat but I'm not a fan of Zee's braid.

 Saga #54 - Fiona Staples (art) Brian K. Vaughn (writer) Fonografiks (letters). Many shocks this issue, the least of which is the announcement that Saga in going on a year long hiatus. Brian Michael Bendis (writer) walking away from Miles Morales bummed me out and this news also makes me sad. Having Hazel narrate this stunning issue prepares me for the major changes coming when this title hits the racks again next summer. I hope the creative team enjoys their much deserved break and look forward to the continuation of Hazel's story.

 Mr. & Mrs. X #1 - Kelly Thompson (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Love & Marriage part 1. I did not read the heavily hyped wedding issue where Kitty and Piotr followed in the footsteps of Batman and Catwoman so I don't know why they didn't tie the knot. Somewhere in there though Rogue and Gambit decided to take their on and off relationship and really get it on Marvin Gaye style. So we are gathered here to witness the wedding and part of the honeymoon until they are called to duty and have to retrieve something out in space. I like that Kelly toned down the southern drawl for Rogue and the Cajun inflections for Gambit so that their dialogue didn't get too annoying in my head. I loved the art and wish that Storm would wear her hair like that all the time. Very stylish and classy. Good job Oscar. Remy and Anna Marie make a cute couple and a surprise appearance on the last page will make for a fun threesome.

 Silencer #7 - Dan Abnett (writer) Viktor Bogdanovic (pencils) Viktor Bogdanovic & Jonathan Glapion (inks) Mike Spicer (colours) Tom Napolitano (letters). Honor's mission to make sure Talia al Ghul stays dead takes her and her family into the friendly skies. Unbeknownst to her Cradle and Grave are on the same flight. I like how the inevitable fight shows off what her super suit can do. I know she won't be successful in killing Talia for good and gone but it will be fun to see her try.

 Doomsday Clock #6 - Geoff Johns (writer) Gary Frank (art) Brad Anderson (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). We're at the halfway mark and this is my favourite issue yet. It's an all villains issue. I like how the Marionette and the Mime's origin story is woven in. This mature version of the Joker is much more interesting and I can't wait to find out what he does with the incapacitated Batman.

 Multiple Man #2 - Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Andy MacDonald (art) Tamra Bonvillain (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). This story is confusing enough with the time travelling but adding in the many Jamie Madroxes makes it even more confusing. I was almost willing to continue reading more issues when someone who knows stuff showed up but she was only there for a cameo. Layla was my favourite X-Factor member.

 Action Comics #1001 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Patrick Gleason (art) Alejandro Sanchez (colours) Josh Reed (letters). One of my favourite things about Brian's writing is his nice flowing dialogue and there's plenty of it in this issue. We find out who is setting fires all over Metropolis as a new super villain is introduced. Her name is Red Cloud and she is as fatal as a sarin gas attack.

 Amazing Spider-Man #2/LGY #803 - Nick Spencer (writer) Ryan Ottley (pencils) Cliff Rathburn (inks) Laura Martin (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Back to Basics part 2. Boy, talk about getting back to basics. We start off with a little fight with Man Mountain Marco and the Ringer and then another fight with the Black Ant and Taskmaster. Gee, Stan the Man and Steve Ditko used to do this sort of stuff every issue too. What is really tickling my fancy are the changes going on in Peter Parker's life. For one thing Stan and Steve never showed Peter and Mary Jane waking up in bed together. Then there's the surprise on the last page. Who is that masked man?

 Marvel 2-In-One #8/LGY #108 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Ramon K. Perez (art) Frederico Blee (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Ben and Johnny are powerless now and stranded in a universe where Spider-Man is a despot. It's very dramatic when Johnny finds out that Ben didn't tell him that Reed, Sue and the kids are dead. I don't believe that for a second. Who's going to be in the new Fantastic Four comic book if that's true? Chip is doing an excellent job writing this.

 X-23 #2 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Juann Cabal (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). The Stepford Cuckoos suffer a death in the family and they go cuckoo for real. This leads to Gabby being captured and Laura needing to come to the rescue. This book gets my highest recommendation.

 The Sentry #2 - Jeff Lemire (writer) Kim Jacinto & Joshua Cassara (art) Rain Beredo (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I was not prepared to like this as much as I do now. Jeff has made this character a lot more interesting with the crazy situations and supporting cast. This book and Moon Knight are weirdly psychological.

 Wakanda Forever: X-Men #1 - Nnedi Okorafor (writer) Ray Anthony-Height & Alberto Alburquerque (pencils) Ray Anthony-Height, Ray Anthony-Height, Juan Vlasco & Keith Champagne (inks) Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). It's Storm, Rogue and Nightcrawler's turn to team up with the Dora Milaje to fight Malice and her doomsday weapon Mimic-27. So just three X-Men then. Colossus isn't in this like he is on the cover. This issue leaves Mimic-27 more powerful than ever so we'll see what the Avengers can do when Wakanda Forever: Avengers #1 hits the racks August 22. I'm going to guess that T'Challa is going to set the lovestruck Malice straight and Mimic-27 will be blowed up real good with the help of, oh I don't know, Captain America and maybe She-Hulk.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1217

Monday, June 18, 2018

 My brother-in-law George and I went fishing yesterday. Something interesting always happens when we are together. I time arriving at the lake at twilight so we're driving there when it's still dark. One year we saw lights in the bush off of the off ramp to Almonte and a young woman sitting on the barrier crying. We stopped to see if she was okay. She wasn't injured but was pretty shaken up. This was before everybody had a cell phone so George stayed with her while I drove all the way back to Stittsville to find a pay phone. I got the OPP and told them where the off ramp was. I drove back and we waited until an officer arrived and then we continued on our trip. George said she dumped a whole bottle of perfume on herself probably to hide the smell of booze. Please don't drink and drive. So yesterday we're cruising down the 417 with my cruise control set at 105 KPH and we pass an OPP cruiser. Next thing we knew he was behind us with his roof lights going. I pull over thinking I was going to hit with a speeding ticket and when he got up to us he asked why we were driving without the headlights on. Y'see, I had just bought a 2018 Honda CR-V and one of the features is that you can set the headlights on AUTO and the car will turn them on and off as needed. I thought that the switch was set to AUTO. What must have happened was that the last time I parked I automatically turned off the headlights and forgot I did that. The CR-V's dashboard lights up when you start it so I assumed that the outside lights were on too. The headlights were on because I could see that they lit up the road but the tail lights were off. It took several minutes for the officer to check my credentials but he accepted my lame excuse and wished us luck on our fishing trip. We did have a good outing too. We caught 23 fish between us.

 Strangers in Paradise XXV #4 - Terry Moore (story & art). I don't know what Katchoo is looking for in this back story but I am hooked.

 Weapon X #19 - Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers) Yildiray Cinar (art) Frank D'Armata (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Sabretooth's in Charge conclusion. The cover of this issue should have a spoiler alert on it. Weapon X does not join S.I.C.K.L.E. here but maybe next issue as they try to help out their new friend Omega Red.

 Batman #48 - Tom King (writer) Mikel Janin (art) June Chung (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). The Best Man part 1. Tom and Mikel's version of the Joker is a very scary homicidal maniac. I get that Batman doesn't kill but seeing what the Joker did in the church, Batman actually being an eye witness to a murder, and Batman doesn't just snap his scrawny neck when he has a chance, I don't get that. Maybe the Cat will act differently when she joins the fray. I hope so.

 Death or Glory #2 - Rick Remender (writer) Bengal (art & colours) Rus Wooton (letters). I love the art but the gruesome story about human trafficking is hard to take. Glory is a relatable hero and her heart is in the right place. I hope she keeps it there.

 Man of Steel #3 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Ryan Sook (art) & Jason Fabok (art page 16) Wade von Grawbadger (inks pages 12 - 13, 15) Alex Sinclair (colours) Josh Reed (letters). The big bad guy Rogol Zaar has a hate on for Krypton and he does major damage physically and emotionally to Superman when he hits Earth. I notice that he looks like Jonah Hex's ugly brother. He's got an axe to grind and he's going to use Kal and Kara. The teaser mystery of what happened to Lois and Jon is what's keeping me reading.

 Hunt for Wolverine: The Adamantium Agenda #2 - Tom Taylor (writer) R. B. Silva (pencils) Adriano Di Benedetto (inks) Guru-eFX (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Our heroes go undercover in a black market auction in a submarine. What can go wrong? They should have brought a bucket of Flex Seal.

 Doctor Strange #391 - Mark Waid (writer) Jesus Saiz (art & colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Sorcerer Supreme of the Galaxy part 1. It's a new number 1 with a new creative team and they are starting from scratch. Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts is powerless. He's lost all of his magic so he goes to Tony Stark for help. This leads to a space trip, hence the title of this story arc. I have a feeling we'll be hearing "I am Groot" soon. I actually like this new direction mostly because the writing is more mature and not in the "there's swearing" sense. The art is awesome too. I'm going to follow along to see if Doc Strange gets his mojo back.

 Plastic Man #1 - Gail Simone (writer) Adriana Melo (art) Kelly Fitzpatrick (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). This is great. The writing is stellar and the art is gorgeous. I wasn't a big fan of DC's super hero comic books when I started collecting but I loved their oddball books like The Inferior Five and Plastic Man. Plas is like a human ball of silly putty who can transform into any crazy shape. This updated version is wang. If they throw in Woozy Winks, it would be more wang. Deadpool fans would like this too.

 The Magic Order #1 - Mark Millar (writer) Olivier Coipel (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Peter Doherty (letters). Man, this is so good. Mark Millar introduces a dysfunctional family of magicians coping with the murder of one of their fellow magic wielders by another faction of magic wielders. It's good magicians versus evil magicians. I am so happy to see Olivier Coipel's art on the racks again. I recommend this to all you Harry Potter fans out there.

 Astonishing X-Men #12 - Charles Soule (writer) Gerardo Sandoval (art) Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). A Man Called X finale. What? The Shadow King isn't dead? Chuck is helplessly watching his precious X-Men fall into despair as the evil villain prepares to take over the world. I was disappointed that there wasn't a clever twist thrown in to defeat the bad guy, just Chuck rallying to save the day. The point of this story was to resurrect Charles Xavier as the man called X. A new creative team takes over starting next issue and I wish Matthew Rosenberg (writer) and Greg Land (artist) well. There's no one on this X-team that I'm a big fan of so I'm going to bench this one.

 Detective Comics #982 - Michael Moreci (writer) Sebastian Fiumara (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Clem Robins (letters). This is a spooky one shot story pitting Batman against the disenfranchised of Gotham City and their spiritual leader Deacon Blackfire. He's a ghost dontcha know. The whole issue feels like a fever dream

 Kick-Ass #5 - Mark Millar (writer) John Romita Jr. (pencils) Peter Steigerwald (digital inks & colours) John Workman (letters). This penultimate issue has another uh-oh moment for our hero. It really doesn't look like she's going to get out of her situation alive. We'll find out in next issue's conclusion, but I'm banking on more bad guys getting killed no matter what happens.

 Thor #707 - Jason Aaron (writer) continues his stalwart efforts chronicling the adventures of the mighty Thor. The Odinson is back as the star of this book and Marvel celebrates his return by giving this issue a number 1. I like using the legacy numbering though. There are two stories in this $5.99 US issue.

 "God of Thunder Reborn" with Mike del Mundo (art) Marco D'Alfonso (colour assists) and VC's Joe Sabino (letters) catches you up with all you need to know to follow along with what's going on after Jane Foster relinquished the mantle of the Mighty Thor. Jane even makes an appearance and I like how she has recovered. One thing I like about Jason's writing is that he smoothes out the thees and thous to make the Asgardian dialogue less archaic. The change in art from Russell Dauterman's fine line work to Mike del Mundo's painted style took some getting used to but I think he suits the manly change to this book. What's a Thor reboot without the god of Mischief? He's not the only god returning either.

 "The Grace of Thor" with Christian Ward (art) and Joe Sabino (letters) takes us far into the future in a Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy type story starring All-Father Thor and his three granddaughters. Something is amiss with the universe and Thor goes off to see what's what. There's a big surprise on the last page and it's going to be torture to wait for Thor #711 (#5) to find out what happens next. It's going to be a super big gulp of an issue, trust me.

 Batgirl vs. Riddler #1 - Tim Seeley (writer) Minkyu Jung (pencils) Jose Marzan Jr. (inks) Otto Schmidt (epilogue art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). Prelude to the Wedding part 3. I loved this classic Riddler story where he leaves riddles for Batgirl to solve in order to save lives. The epilogue doesn't lead into the next duel but does reveal another guest to the wedding.

 X-Men Red #5 - Tom Taylor (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Rain Beredo (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This issue did me in. the story is going along just fine with the red team righting wrongs and protecting fellow mutants. Even X-23 and Gabby appear, albeit briefly. Then Namor shows up in his cool new costume (I can imagine Cosplayer getting giddy) and Jean says something noble and then we cut to twenty years from now where major characters are dead. So did the red team efforts fail? The last page by Ed Brisson (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) Erick Arciniega (colours) and VC's Cory Petit (letters) is the "Countdown to Extinction" teaser, which sounds like another big threat that will eliminate all mutants. It wasn't that long ago that the Terrigen mists almost wiped out mutantkind. I was talking to Rob McLennan recently about the X-books and why we haven't been wowed by them. We are both long time fans and my opinion is that none of the current writers know what else to do with these characters given the "world that fears and hates them" theme of the X-Men. I love these heroes but the team dynamic isn't doing it for me anymore. Plus Nightcrawler has a goatee now. This X-team is eliminated off my "to read" list.

 Marvel 2 in One Annual #1 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Declan Shelvey (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Letterer not credited. They used the extra long $4.99 US annual format to tell a fuller story featuring Victor Von Doom, the Infamous Iron Man, helping out Ben and Johnny. Victor knows the truth about their missing family and friends and is trying to find out why Ben is hiding it from Johnny. I really like how Chip is keeping the changes that Brian Michael Bendis made to Doctor Doom. He's still super arrogant and self confident but he has some compassion now. I thought the flashback scene with Reed and Victor at the end of Secret War was very enlightening.

 Domino #3 - Gail Simone (writer) David Baldeon with Anthony Piper (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Domino decides she needs help to deal with her nemesis Topaz. The guy she goes to is one of my all time favourite Marvel heroes. No, it's not Spider-Man. He might call her Grasshopper.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1200

Monday, February 12, 2018

 My old partner and dearly departed friend Ron Norton came up with the title of these weekly musings. I seem to remember that it was after I left Vancouver and The Comicshop and moved to Ottawa to manage The Silver Snail in 1990. I can't remember when I started numbering them but I was commenting on the comic books that I read for The Comicshpper, The Comicshop's monthly newsletter way before off the rack #1. This is some time during the 1980s so who knows what this latest off the rack should be numbered at. I've thought about quitting many times but a handful of people who read them every week keep me going. I'm grateful for their feedback and encouragement. Thanks to Chris R, Charles dL, Doug S, Tom Mc, and Ryan J. It looks like I'll stop when I'm no longer working.

 X-Men Red #1 - Tom Taylor (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Ive Svorcina (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). If you read the 5-issue mini Phoenix Resurrection you'll not be surprised that the original Jean Grey is back on the racks. If you didn't, you should read it to find out how she comes back from the dead, or you can just accept the fact that she's back. This debut opens with a familiar situation where the X-Men rescue a young mutant from a mob of anti-mutant non-mutants. This leads to a flashback to another mutant rescue and the scary notion fostered by the general population that all mutants must be eliminated. That's the cue for Jean to gather her Red Team: Nightcrawler, Namor, Wolverine/Laura and Honey Badger/Gabby. Including Namor was a surprise to me. I can see where Jean and the King of Atlantis will butt heads later. Most of this issue seemed like the same old mutants trying to live in a world that fears and hates them and it is, but then the villain is revealed and I want to see what the bad guy wants.

 Superman #40 - James Robinson (writer) Doug Mahnke (pencils) Jaime Mendoza & Scott Hanna (inks) Wil Quintana (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). The Last Days part 1. Mark your calendars, February 8 is the day that Krypton exploded. It's true. It says so in this comic book. This is a Superman and son story where Jon tags along to help save another planet on the verge of exploding. They run into a problem when they get there as the natives are not amenable to being saved. Me, I would have said suit yourselves, see you never and left them to their fate but not Superman. I would be a lousy super hero. I may mock this story but I really like Doug's art so I will keep reading.

 VS #1 - Ivan Brandon (writer) Esad Ribic (art) Nic Klein (colours) Aditya Bidikar (letters). That's Versus in case you're old like me and don't get what the title stands for. I pulled this off the rack for the visual feast that is any comic book with art by Esad Ribic. The story is similar to The Hunger Games but with teams of soldiers fighting each other for fame and glory. I suppose video gamers would enjoy this but I'm reading this one because of the art.

 Runaways #6 - Rainbow Rowell (writer) Kris Anka (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Find Your Way Home part 6. This relaunch is starting out similarly to the original but instead of fighting evil parents they're fighting an evil grandparent. The Runaway that saves the day surprised me. I can't wait for Victor to get a body.

 Swamp Thing Winter Special #1 - There are two stories in this 80-page giant. The Talk of the Saints by Tom King (writer) Jason Fabok (art) Brad Anderson (colours) & Deron Bennett (letters) is swamp monster versus snow monster but not what you may think. It was actually a really cool story. The second story is a first issue of a new Swamp Thing series by Len Wein (writer) Kelley Jones (art) Michelle Madsen (colours) that was supposed to be the sequel to Swamp Thing: The Dead Don't Sleep the 6-issue mini that hit the racks in the spring of 2016. There is no letterer credit because the story is presented without words. Len had not completed a lettering script before he passed away. It is the power of his writing and Kelley's art that makes what you see a understandable story even without any words. Len's story pages are provided to fill things out for us and it's cool to see how Kelley brings the story to the pages of the comic book. The Swamp Thing is my favourite occult character because of all the creators that have told his stories.

 Avengers #679 - Al Ewing, Jim Zub & Mark Waid (writers) Kim Jacinto (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). No Surrender part 5. This issue clears up two mysteries. Who is the Grandmaster's opponent and why they are playing this game. The change in art styles was made less annoying because of the consistent colouring of David Curiel. I also noticed a difference in the writing too and you can see that Al Ewing is listed first in the writing credits this issue after Mark Waid had been during the first four. It's interesting to me that I noticed these differences.

 Infinity Countdown Adam Warlock #1 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Michael Allred (art) Laura Allred (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I've know Adam Warlock since he went by just plain Him. My favourite run of stories was when Jim Starlin drew Adam and all the weird and wonderful alien cast like Pip the Troll and Gamora. The character is tied to the soul gems and with the new Avengers movie focusing on Thanos and the soul gems in the Infinity Gauntlet it's time to exploit the heightened interest by putting a bunch of Infinity Countdown books on the racks. This one teams Warlock with Kang and when Kang is involved time travel is sure to follow. Ugh. If you're nostalgic for the comic books that were written in the late sixties you'll like this. I'm going to read the next part in Infinity Countdown Prime, which hits the racks on February 21, but if it's as stilted as this book I won't be impressed enough to read the rest unless they have creative teams that interest me.

 Daredevil #598 - Charles Soule (writer) Ron Garney (art) Matt Milla (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Ron Garney is not a flashy artist like Jim Lee but his gritty style really fits the urban setting of this book. Now that Wilson Fisk is the mayor of New York City he will be appointing various commissioners to help him run the place. It's very interesting to see who the big man is inviting to the table. Meanwhile the artist villain Muse is getting under the mayor's skin but it looks like the Kingpin has plans to deal with him that are sure to make things deadly for Daredevil. I love all the shenanigans.

 She-Hulk #162 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Jahnoy Lindsay (art) Frederico Blee (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). The banner across the top of the cover says "Jen Walters Must Die". That's pretty ominous. What we have this issue is a psychotherapy session where we get to see where Jen's head is at. It results in a minor transformation that will change the character. I look forward to seeing what's next.

 Amazing Spider-Man #795 - Dan Slott & Christos Gage (writers) Mike Hawthorne (pencils) Terry Pallot (inks) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). Threat Level: Red part 2. What the hey? Loki is Sorcerer Supreme now? Then what is Doctor Strange up to? We find out what kind of red threat Spidey will be facing soon but the ads for Amazing Spider-Man #797 seems to indicate that it's only temporary. That kind of downplays the threat don't you think?

 Spider-Man #237 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) Brian Reber (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This issue is all about the difficulties with family ties. Miles and his evil uncle and Lana and her evil mother Bombshell don't see eye to eye but the adults are in control. You won't get Spider-Man fighting the Hobgoblin like it shows on the cover but Hobbie is in this issue at least.

 Motor Girl Volumes 1 & 2 - Terry Moore (story & art). I started reading the story of Samantha Locklear as floppies but had to stop partway through because the store could only order the few subscription service copies that was needed and not even an extra rack copy or else we would not make a profit. I'm glad that the whole thing was collected quickly and made available in these two trade paperbacks so that I could finish reading. Sam is a marine vet who served in Iraq and came home scarred both physically and emotionally. It's a story of her struggle to heal. It's got apes and aliens and is a whole lot of fun. One of the perks of working in a comic book store is that I can read them without having to pay for them. I bought Terry's Rachel Rising omnibus soft cover when that was available and I bought these too. He is one of the very few comic book creators that I will spend my hard earned money on.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1170

Monday, July 10, 2017

 Another late posting this week because, guess what? I went fishing this morning. I needed to go and commune with nature to try and counteract a lot of negative feelings I have been having due to upsetting events in the news. Things like the Omar Khadr settlement, the senseless death of Barbara Kentner in Thunder Bay, Ottawa Pride telling the Police not to wear their uniforms in the Pride Parade, the moron of the united states and his ruling party and inconsiderate entitled bullies all over the place feeling emboldened because of the puissant in chief. Well, my plan for finding peace and tranquility at the lake backfired big time right off the bat. Another vehicle and boat pulled into the boat launch just as I was finishing getting my boat ready to launch and they decided to cut in front of me and back their boat into the ramp before me. I stopped them and launched my boat but after I parked my SUV and trailer one of the guys starts yelling at me. He said I should have backed my trailer down the ramp to get my boat ready instead of getting it ready in the parking area. He said that he shouldn't have to wait his turn because it might have taken me an hour to launch. An hour. Exaggerate much? I was so upset I forgot to put the drain plug in and had to bail out the excess water as I motored along. I also forgot to grab my rain coat before heading out but luckily for me it stopped raining soon after. It took about an hour before I was able to calm down. Having the loons, turtles, fish hawk, and great blue heron around and catching a few nice fish made me feel better eventually. There's no accounting for rude and selfish people but there are ways to help deal with them. Being in nature does that for me.

 Spider-Man #18 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) Justin Ponsor with Rain Beredo (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). I love the consistently good art in this book whether it's Sara Pichelli, David Marquez, or Oscar Bazaldua. My one quibble this issue was that Miles's mother looked more like his sister. I am looking forward to seeing what happens with Hammerhead and how Miles handles Bombshell.

 Nick Fury #4 - James Robinson (writer) Aco (pencils) Hugo Petrus (inks) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) Travis Lanham (letters). This mission takes Nick deep into Atlantis. It was nice seeing the old Imperius Rex exclaimer again. It's a near impossible mission since Nick only has about an hour to get the bad guy before he drowns. The excitement and tension mounts with each turn of the page. The art in this has been outstanding.

 Deathstroke #21 - Christopher Priest (writer) Diogenes Neves (pencils) Jason Paz (inks) Jeromy Cox (colours) Willie Schubert (letters). Praise the lord Slade Wilson is born again and the guy that made Quantum and Woody so much fun for me is writing these new adventures. Deathstroke is a good guy now and is leading a team of Dark Titans calling themselves Defiance. There's plenty of family drama with Slade's ex-wife, Jericho and Ravager involved. There is one member who looks like DC's version of Moon Girl that I'm not familiar with and when could Jericho fly? These mysteries and Deathstroke's personal about face is what made me put this book back in the reading rotation.

 Skybourne #4 - Frank Cho (writer & artist) Marcio Menyz (colours) Ed Dukeshire (letters). There's a surprise appearance that made me break out in song. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sight, that saved this mini series for me. Now I can't wait for the last issue to hit the racks.

 All-New Wolverine #22 - Tom Taylor (writer) Leonard Kirk (pencils) Leonard Kirk & Cory Hamscher (inks) Michael Garland & Erick Arciniega (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Laura and Gabby go to space and whenever anyone goes into space you've just got to have the Guardians of the Galaxy involved. I am enjoying Leonard Kirk's art in this.

 Superman #26 - Michael Moreci (writer) Scott Godlewski (art) Hi-Fi (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Father and son lessons in this issue. I have a feeling that if Jon really screws up then Lois will be the one to make him see the light.

 The Old Guard #5 - Greg Rucka (writer) Leandro Fernandez (art) Daniela Miwa (colours) Jodi Wynne (letters). The first story arc ends with a nice fire fight. I really like this little team of immortal mercenaries and look forward to their next assignment.

 The Unstoppable Wasp #7 - Jeremy Whitley (writer) Veronica Fish (art) Megan Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). And now for some step-mother and step-daughter bonding. Janet Van Dyne, the original Wasp steps up to help Nadia, the Unstoppable Wasp cope with her friend's trauma after bad guys try to kidnap them for the Red Room. I like having Jarvis around but I hope that they don't put too many adults into this book. The appeal for me is seeing these girls do their own thing.

 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #23 - Robert Venditti (writer) Ethan Van Sciver (art) Jason Wright (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). My favourite Green Lantern Corps artist draws this issue and it's gorgeous. I love all the fine detail he puts into every panel. Part 2 of "Fracture" puts the alliance between the Green and Yellow Corps in jeopardy. This could be another Civil War folks.

 Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #7 - Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (writer) Robert Hack (art & colours) Jack Morelli (letters). Part 1 of "Witch War" tells Sabrina's origin story through her father's. It's been a year since the last issue but this starts a new story and is a good jumping on point if you've never read this book before. I'm not a fan of horror comic books but this one is so horrifyingly good that I'm enjoying it immensely. I'm astounded by the how mature this is compared to the sweet innocence of the original Archie Comics Sabrina comic books. There's a reprint of an old story featuring Dracula that shows that difference perfectly. This isn't your grandmother's Archie Comics that's for damn sure.

 Spider-Man/Deadpool #19 - Joshua Corin (writer) Will Robson (art) Jordan Boyd (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). I read this as a test issue for the new creative team after Joe Kelly (writer) and Ed McGuinness (pencils) finished their stint and the new guys passed. I'm happy that this bromance book is still on my "must read" list. Even with Slapstick guest starring this didn't degenerate into dumb silliness.

 Batman #26 - Tom King (writer) Mikel Janin (art) June Chung (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). Holy awesome story Batman. Part 2 of "The War of Jokes and Riddles" surprised me by including a bunch of Bat Villains. Poison Ivy is on team Riddler and you will see what other villains are on his team and who is on team Joker. This war is going to be brutal. The first page alone is worth the $2.99 US cover price.

 Champions #10 - Mark Waid (writer) Humberto Ramos (pencils) Victor Olazaba (inks) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Hydra has taken over the USA? Does that suck worse than #45 being POTUS (president of the united states) IRL (in real life)? The team searches for the missing Ms. Marvel and find an internment camp for Inhumans. The search continues next issue.

 Jessica Jones #10 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Michael Gaydos (art) Matt Hollingsworth (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). This case that Jess is working on for Maria Hill to find out who put out a kill order on Maria is getting quite complicated. I hope we're going to see Maria's origin story out of this.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1166

Monday, June 12, 2017

 Took a new fishing buddy out to the lake yesterday morning and it was so windy we were blown off the lake for real. Not a great way to impress a new friend.

 Penny and I saw the Wonder Woman movie and both of us enjoyed it very much. I particularly liked the fight choreography and the use of slow motion. Go see it.

 Star Wars: Darth Vader #1 - Charles Soule (writer) Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils) Cam Smith (inks) David Curiel (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The ever popular dark lord of the Sith is back on the racks in a new story that takes place soon after the almost dead Anakin Skywalker gets his copyrighted black armour. I was very impressed with the art and did not quite recognise Giuseppe Camuncoli's style right away. I think David Curiel's colours made a big difference. Giuseppe's art looked different when he was drawing Amazing Spider-Man. This art looks nicer. I'm going to read the rest of this story to see how Vader gets his light sabre. The back-up story by Chris Eliopoulos (writer & art) and Jordie Bellaire (colours) shows what a bad boss Vader is. I wouldn't want to work for the guy.

 Superman #24 - Patrick Gleason & Peter J. Tomasi (writers) Doug Mahnke & Patrick Gleason (pencils) Jaime Mendoza, Mick Gray, Joe Prado & Doug Mahnke (inks) Wil Quintana, John Kalisz & Hi-Fi (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Part 5 of "Black Dawn" reveals Manchester Black's evil plan. Can young Jonathan Kent fight against the villain's control? You better believe it baby, but not yet.

 The Divided States of Hysteria #1 - Howard Chaykin (writer & art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) Ken Bruzenak (letters). One look at the burka on the cover and I thought to myself "hoo boy, here comes Howie with another controversial comic book that's going to rile up folks". A quick flip through the pages inside confirmed my suspicions. This is like the new TV show Designated Survivor but with a lot more sex and violence ala Howard Chaykin. Howie always knows how to stir up poop but his stories are never stinkers. There are things in here that some fans will find offensive so please be warned. One of the coolest things about this debut was the essay in the back by letterer Ken Bruzenak. Read it for some insight to his craft.

 Spider-Man/Deadpool #18 - Joe Kelly (writer) Ed McGuinness (pencils) Mark Morales & Jay Leisten (inks) Jason Keith (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). Well, that's it. The battle for Peter Parker's soul ends with Mephisto getting a big surprise. I liked Joe and Ed's run on this book. They gave Wade a lot more depth than other creative teams and that made me stick around. I will see what the next team has to offer now.

 Batman #24 - Tom King (writer) Bruce & Selina: David Finch (pencils) Danny Miki (inks), Batman & Gotham Girl: Clay Mann (pencils) Seth Mann (inks), Jordie Bellaire (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). SPOILER ALERT! Who did it better: The Big Bang Theory or this issue of Batman? The chemistry between Batman and Catwoman has always been an interesting aspect of the two characters and now we will see how combustible it is.

 Paper Girls #15 - Brian K. Vaughn (writer) Cliff Chiang (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) Jared K. Fletcher (letters). It's another great cliffhanger in this season finale as time shifts again for the girls. The next issue won't hit the racks until October.

 Doctor Strange #20 - Jason Aaron (writer) Chris Bachalo & Kevin Nowlan (art & colours) Al Vey, John Livesay, Tim Townsend, Jaime Mendoza, Victor Olazaba & Kevin Nowlan (inks) VC's Cory Petit (letters). This is the special giant sized grand finale of Jason's run on this title. It sets things up for the new creative team of Dennis Hopeless (writer) and Niko Henrichon (art) with a major cast change that will be sure to surprise you. I look forward to seeing what Chris Bachalo will draw next. If you want to check out other like Jason Aaron books, I highly recommend The Mighty Thor.

 Doctor Strange #21 - Dennis Hopeless (writer) Niko Henrichon (art & colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I hope that this isn't indicative of the calibre of work that Dennis and Niko are going to putting into this series. I was not impressed but maybe it's because this is a Secret Empire tie-in and Stephen is teamed up with other heroes. I'm going to bench this until after Secret Empire is over and see if the Doctor's solo adventures are an improvement.

 Riverdale #3 - James DeWille (writer) Joe Eisma (art) Andre Szymanowicz (colours) Janice Chiang (letters). Okay, that's it. I can't reconcile the TV versions of the Archie Gang with what I know them to be from decades of reading Archie comic books. Plus the fact that I had to Google TBH to find out what it means. One of my pet peeves is using the cliché TBH when talking to someone. I am tuning this book out.

 Champions #9 - Mark Waid (writer) Humberto Ramos (pencils) Victor Olazaba (inks) Edgar Delgado (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Speculator Alert: the first appearance of the Red Locust is in this issue. I think she is going to be a star. Buy multiple copies, bag and board them and keep them for about thirty years. By 2050 paper will be so rare that every old comic book will be worth thousands of dollars. No, seriously, Red Locust is a fun new hero and she teams up with my favourite Champion, Viv Vision, in her debut.

 Jessica Jones #9 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Michael Gaydos (art) Matt Hollingsworth (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Something happens in this issue that made me very happy and then something else happens that made me go argh. I want to know what happens next so bad right now.

 Amazing Spider-Man #28 - Dan Slott (writer) Stuart Immonen (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Marte Gracia & Andres Mossa (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). The finale to "The Osborn Identity" has Peter and Norman beating the poop out of each other. I'm sure you can guess who wins.

 The Unstoppable Wasp #6 - Jeremy Whitley (writer) Elsa Charretier (art) Megan Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). If you can believe teenagers doing delicate brain surgery then you'll love this issue. Yes, some plot devices in comic books can be vary far fetched but that's what makes them fun.

 Spider-Man #17 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Oscar Bazaldua (art) Justin Ponsor (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). It's Miles versus Hammerhead and the kid gets schooled in the art of street fighting. Hey Marvel, it ruins the suspense when the next issue page shows Miles fighting the Black Cat. Just sayin'.